Chair for aerial skilifts



1953 A. M ILVAINE CHAIR FOR AERIAL SKI LIFTS Filed. Nov. 18, 1949 r IN VEN TOR.

ALEXANDER M /L VA/IVE A 770E415 Y Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CHAIR FOR AERIAL SKI LIFTS Alexander Mcllvaine, New York,N. Y. Application November 18, 1949, Serial No. 128,217

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates in general to aerial ski chair lifts, and inparticular to improvements in the chairs for such lifts.

It is known to employ on aerial ski lifts chairs which are provided withfoot-rests. However, heretofore, the foot-rests on such chairs areeither fixed in position or they require an attendant to open thefoot-rest and bring it into operating position before a passenger can beloaded. When the foot-rest is fixed in position on the chair, itfrequently strikes the passenger before or after loading and requiresthat the lift cable be ele vated unduly in order to have the foot-restclear irregularities in the right-of-way. On the other hand, when thelatter type of chair is employed, the passage of the chair around thebull wheel at the top of the lift causes the foot-rest to close bycontact with such wheel. In this event, an attendant is required to openthe foot-rest after it has passed the bull wheel at the top or bottom ofthe lift.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a chair for aski lift which has a retractable foot-rest.

It is a specific object of the invention to provide a ski lift chair inwhich the foot-rest is automatically and normally held out of the wayfor loading of passengers but which can be brought by the passenger intooperating position during loading.

Another object is to provide a ski lift chair in which the foot-restwill not extend normally in unloaded state below the level of the chairseat so that it will not injure passengers after or before unloading.

According to the present invention, there 1s provided in an aerial skilift, a lift chair having a dependent and movable foot-rest and means tomove the foot-rest, preferably automatically, when the chair isunoccupied to a position where it does not extend substantially belowthe base of the chair seat. In one embodiment the foot rest is retractedby means of a spring or an elastic member and in a second embodiment itis maintained or retracted in the elevated position by an over-balancingweight. The foot-rest may be attached to the seat or to the lift cable.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and objects of theinvention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the chair;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the chair of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a second embodior at ment of the chairshowing a form which retracts the foot-rest by counter-weight;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a third embodiment of the chair showingthe foot-rest swinging upward behind the chair by spring action;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a fourth embodiment which retracts byflattening;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a fifth embodiment in which the foot-restis aflixed to the ski lift cable.

It should be noted that all of the embodiments shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5show the foot-rest mounted on a dependent lever which is drawn upward byan overbalancing weight and in Figs. 1, 4 and 6 the foot-rest isspring-loaded. The essential features of the invention can beillustrated by reference to the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, in whichthe chair It as of metal is fixed to a hanger rod I l by welding, whichrod is fastened to the lift cable i2 by means of a fastening [3 ofconventional design. The hanger is preferably curved as shown so thatthe center of gravity of the chair when loaded with a passenger I4 isbelow the clamp [3. The foot-rest i5 is attached to the end of adependent lever 2G which, in this embodiment, is curved in inverted Uform to arch over the passenger and is pivotally attached to a memberfixed with respect on the hanger rod directly to the chair, preferablybehind the back It at the pivot point 22. The curved lever is alsopreferably provided with a handle or control bar 59 disposed in ahorizontal plane so that it is positioned within reach of the seatedpassenger. The foot-rest is preferably a platform It sloping upwardlytoward the front so that when the feet I? of the passenger rest upon thefoot-rest, the skis slope upward at the front ends thereof so that theydo not tend to catch in underbrush or become lodged in the snow beneaththe chair. In the front elevation, it is clear that the lever 2G ispositioned in the center of the chair and that the platform i8 projectsfrom it on each side to provide foot-rests for two passengers. It is tobe understood that two identical levers can be used, instead of one,each mounted at or adjacent the sides of the chair. The lever 26 isprovided, preferably with a projection 2| which serves as a stop when itcontacts the hanger II. If desired, this stop can be slidably mounted onthe lever and fixed in a desired position by a set-screw.

The normal operating position of the foot-rest of the chair of Fig. 1 isshown in solid lines, and when the passenger desires to alight, thecontrol bar I9 is pushed upward and backward until the foot-rest l8comes to rest on the hanger H. When the curved lever is in the positionshown in broken lines, the foot-rest is completely out of the way of thepassenger and remains in this position due to the fact that the centerof gravity lies on the left side of the pivot 22. When the chair passesaround the bull wheel of the cable, it does not cause the foot-rest toalter its position. When the chair reaches a loading station on theup-grade side, the passenger getssinto the chair and then reachesover-head'and pulls the foot-rest l8 downward by first grasping itandthen grasping the control bar l9.

Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment ini'whiclr.

a counter-weight 23 is used to retract. the footrest l8a mounted on theother endofa'l'everz'oa" which also serves as an arm: rest; The lever20a is pivoted at 24 on the side edge of the back.

16a. In this embodiment the feet I! of the passenger maintain thefoot-rest [8a in the normal position shown: in. solid: lines," but: whenthe feet are removed as when the. passenger alights, the weight 23swings downward. causing the footrest to beelevated to" the positionshown in broken lines,. its backward; movement being arrested bystop 2lb;

While in Figs. 1 and 2.the foot-rest is retracted by'passingtupwardirrfront of the passenger, the embodiment "of Fig.4 provides means forswinging the foot-rest upward behind the passenger. Therfoot-rest lBb'l'iszmounted'. on a lever 25 pivotedat'thespointjfi on the sideof'thechair lob and havingzalst'oprfl projectingtoward the center ofthe-chair; A spring; 28 has one end attached to the lever 25at'a -pointbetween thevpivot 2B and-the foot-rest" I Bb'and theother end attachedatla. point .29Ton' thechair; the point 28 being abovethe point26.Toretractthefoot-rest the passenger pushes? the lever backward and underthe chair; thus stretching the spring 25 and causing thelever: to cometo: rest-in the: position behind'the chairr as shownin the broken line,in which position it ismaintained by the spring 28; When'the'leveri's-to be brought into'operating position; the: passenger gets into thechair and with oneha'nd swings the lever under the chair torthenormalzposition; shown in solid lines. Instead of the springIZE; anyelastic band may beZ'llSBdiII the sameiposition asthe-spring'2 8;

In Fig. 5 there is shownianotherembodiment utilizing a; counterbalanceto retract the footrest; Inthis type; the entire chair Hlc is: pivotallymountediinside the arms 50: of a: forked hanger." I la having 'a.cross-bar 30? on whichthe seat isrfastened as bywelding"; The pivotalpoint P is so positioned that the ch'air has a normal tendency-"to tiltbackward to the position shown in broken lines. Inthis typethechairb'ack 16c, armrest 3|, 1eg32'i-and foot-rest l8'c are hingedtogether. The weight. 34' causes the chair to flatten when iti'is'rioto'ccupied. When? the passenger desires .to'. occupy thechair, it"ispulled downward by means of the foot rest'until the stop 21c" strikesthe hanger He, and when occupied it remainsin: upright position, asshown.

In; that embodimentshown' in Fig. 6', the 7 footrest' I811 is attachedto the free end of a lever- 38-,

the upper end of which is pivoted at 39 to a cable clamp 40 and normallyheld in retracted position by the spring 4| extending from the lever 38to the clamp 40. A cord 42 has one end attached to the lever 38 and theother end fixed to the chair or hanger at a convenient point so that theoccupant can pull the lever downward and fix the lever 38 in the hook 43which is mounted on an. extension 44 of a chair arm? 451 In this casethearm' 45 is positioned in the center of the chair seat and. thefoot-rest platform l8d extends on both sides of the lever 38 to providefoot-rests for two passengers;

It is characteristic of all embodiments of the chair of" the inventionthat when the ski chair 15.211013. occupied: the foot-rest retracts to aposition.not lower than the chair seat and, in the preferred embodiment,to an over-head position. Thus, the foot-rest does not get in the way ofpassengers alighting nor'doesit create a hazard for persons over whomthe ski chairsrmay'pass.

I claim:

1; An aerial skilift including achair having a seat and a back rest, anarm pivotally connected to a member fixed relative to the chair andsaidarm' extending downward below the seat but movable forward andupward'above' the seat; a foot rest carried by said arm, and meansconnccted to said arm for moving it'about'its'pivot to raise the footrest forward and upward 'above the seat whereby olearance belowthe seatisincreased and users may have free aceess'tothe seat while wearingskis.

21 An aerial ski lift including" a chair having-"a seat and a back rest,an arm pivotally connected to the-chair adjacentthe back restand'extending forward and downward below the seat-but movable forward andupward above the'seat, a foot rest carried by said arm, and meansconnected to said arm for moving it about itspivot to raise thefoot restforward and upward above the seat whereby clearance below the seat isincreased and users may have-free access'to-the seat while wearing skis;

3 An aerial ski lift includinga chair having a seat and a back rest, anarm pivotally connected to a member 'fixed relative to the: chair andextending forward and downward below the seat when in an active positionbut movable toa raised inactive position, a foot rest carried by saidarm, and spring meansconnected to said arm and to said member fixed withrespect to said chair for holding said arm and foot' rest in said raisedinactive position.

ALEXANDER 'McILVA-INE.

References Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Datev 643,454.v Barrows Feb. 13, 1900 1,080,714 Meyrose- Dec; 9,1913 1,140,211 Thomas May 18,- 1915 LQ MAAG McGowen Jan. 23; 19342,244,650. Curran June 3, 1941 2,325,141 Lloyd July'27, 1943

